Developing Resilience In First Year Collegiate Athletes: The Effectiveness Of A Resilience And Strengths Based Course,
2025
James Madison University
Developing Resilience In First Year Collegiate Athletes: The Effectiveness Of A Resilience And Strengths Based Course, Dorian J. Hayden
Dissertations, 2020-current
Research shows that college students have increased levels of mental health difficulties with freshmen transitioning into college experiencing even more strain. What further contributes to these difficulties includes having experienced the COVID pandemic in high school, low socioeconomic status (SES), and racial minority status. Student-athletes, although known to have better mental health than non-student-athletes, still underutilize their abundance of resources. Generally, a skill that has been established as beneficial in managing the difficulties related to college is resilience, suggesting the implementation of a more accessible resource to support the mental health of student-athletes transitioning into college. One such resource is …
Illness Terminable And Interminable: A Lacanian Exploration Of Medical Assistance In Dying,
2025
Duquesne University
Illness Terminable And Interminable: A Lacanian Exploration Of Medical Assistance In Dying, Matthew Devine
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
More and more people worldwide are requesting euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), or medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Arguments in favor of expanding access to MAiD tend to prioritize the rational, competent, autonomous subject who has the right to make decisions about their body, including their death. Some have argued that this perspective – common in biomedical and bioethical literature – tends to neglect the fact that requests for assisted dying involve a relational structure: a relationship between the subject who requests an assisted death and the Other to whom this request is addressed. After reviewing relevant psychoanalytic approaches to suicide …
In Good Times & Bad: Measuring Ambivalence In Custodial Grandparents,
2025
Mississippi State University
In Good Times & Bad: Measuring Ambivalence In Custodial Grandparents, Marin Gail Olson
Theses and Dissertations
Like other forms of caregivers, custodial grandparents experience both the joys and trials of raising their grandchildren. This culmination of positive and negative feelings is called “caregiver ambivalence." It has only recently been studied in relation to caregiver burden and wellness in the form of caregiver ambivalence theory (CAT). By collecting data from approximately 395 custodial grandparents via an online survey, the current study aimed to test if custodial grandparents’ feelings of burden influence their perceived well-being and if feelings of ambivalence mediate this relation. Implications of this research include identifying areas of strength and growth within custodial grandparents and …
Older Adult Men’S Well-Being: The Impact Of Masculinity And Negative Perceptions Of Aging,
2025
Mississippi State University
Older Adult Men’S Well-Being: The Impact Of Masculinity And Negative Perceptions Of Aging, Darby D. Mackenstadt
Theses and Dissertations
Stereotype embodiment theory states that individuals who hold negative aging stereotypes may internalize them, and thus view their own aging process as negative. This study aimed to evaluate how older adult men may be influenced by their adherence to masculinity standards, such as men are expected to be strong and independent, in older adulthood. A sample of 438 men aged 55 and older living in the southern United States was analyzed, finding that beliefs of masculinity moderated the relationship between negative perceptions of aging and depression. Participants who reported a high adherence to masculinity beliefs and a negative perception of …
My Grandparents Raised Me: The Role Of Formative Individual And Family Experiences In Predicting Emerging Adult Substance Use, Attachment, And Mental Health Outcomes,
2025
Mississippi State University
My Grandparents Raised Me: The Role Of Formative Individual And Family Experiences In Predicting Emerging Adult Substance Use, Attachment, And Mental Health Outcomes, Acacia Lopez
Theses and Dissertations
Individuals raised in a grandfamily, or family structure in which a grandparent raises their grandchildren, experience higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), insecure attachment, and negative mental health outcomes during childhood. Literature on outcomes of these individuals across the lifespan is extremely limited, however, and it is unclear how formative individual and family experiences of being raised by grandparents carry into emerging adulthood (e.g., 18 to 25-years-old). Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage marked by significant instability and unpredictability that is linked with increased vulnerability to mental health concerns and substance use. It has been identified as an important …
Measuring Emotional Biases In Attention And Memory In Individuals Who Fear Happiness,
2025
Mississippi State University
Measuring Emotional Biases In Attention And Memory In Individuals Who Fear Happiness, Michael R. Gallagher
Theses and Dissertations
A central goal in contemporary clinical science is to measure emotionally driven factors of psychopathology through cognitive experimental methods. However, limitations in previous experimental paradigms have led to a lack of sensitivity and reliability in measuring the biased processing of positive and negative information. Additionally, these biases have not been investigated in individuals who fear happiness. Therefore, this study examined the unique relations between attention and memory biases of emotional stimuli and fear of happiness scores. A more sensitive experimental paradigm tracked eye positions while participants viewed faces over time to measure tendencies to attend to emotional content. A memory …
“It Just Builds Character”: Building The Bullying Myths Scale,
2025
Mississippi State University
“It Just Builds Character”: Building The Bullying Myths Scale, Jessica Weiss Utley
Theses and Dissertations
Approximately 20% of American children and adolescents report being victims of bullying each year (Irwin et al., 2022). Bullying victimization is linked to serious behavioral and psychological outcomes, like depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide (e.g., Chou et al., 2020; John et al., 2018; Mulder et al., 2017; Schoeler et al., 2018). Despite these sobering data, misconceptions continue to portray bullying as a normal part of growing up, that it is trivial in nature, and that some kids deserve to be bullied (Dawes et al., 2022; Kulig et al., 2008). This study tested the validity and efficacy of the Bullying Myths …
Relationship Between Processing Speed And Perceptual Reasoning Index Scores In Contact Vs Noncontact Child Sex Offenders,
2025
Walden University
Relationship Between Processing Speed And Perceptual Reasoning Index Scores In Contact Vs Noncontact Child Sex Offenders, Mylena Smith
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Child sexual offending remains a critical societal issue with complex psychological and behavioral underpinnings. Although prior research has emphasized recidivism and risk assessment, there is limited information regarding neurocognitive functioning and its potential role in terms of differentiating contact versus noncontact offender subtypes. This quantitative cross-sectional study involved examining whether cognitive functioning, measured using the Processing Speed Index (PSI) and Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) via the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale predicted offender subtype among 90 adult males who completed psychosexual evaluations. Additionally, the study involved testing whether age moderated the relationship between cognitive indices and offender subtype classification. Guided by …
Competence To Stand Trial And Criminal Responsibility: The Effect Of Pretrial Publicity On Insanity Verdicts,
2025
Western Kentucky University
Competence To Stand Trial And Criminal Responsibility: The Effect Of Pretrial Publicity On Insanity Verdicts, Hannah Hennessey
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
Despite the legal distinction between competence to stand trial (CST) and criminal responsibility (CR), the potential for jurors to conflate these constructs due to pretrial publicity (PTP) remains an under-examined issue in forensic psychology research. Therefore, the current study investigated whether exposure to PTP about a defendant’s CST influences jurors’ CR verdicts. A national sample of jury-eligible adults (N = 598) was recruited through Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three mock PTP news articles: (1) the defendant was CST, (2) the defendant was previously found incompetent to stand trial (IST) but was later restored to competency, …
Aging Is Not All Doom And Gloom: How Do Beliefs About Aging Moderate The Effects Of Mortality Salience On Ageism Attitudes?,
2025
Western Kentucky University
Aging Is Not All Doom And Gloom: How Do Beliefs About Aging Moderate The Effects Of Mortality Salience On Ageism Attitudes?, Kristen Schwindt Edmondson
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
The purpose of the study is to examine how young adults’ beliefs about aging moderate the effects of mortality salience on their ageism attitudes. Past research suggests that ageism is, in part, due to the presence of elderly people reminding people of their own aging process and mortality (Martens et al., 2004). Little is known, however, about how individuals’ beliefs about aging may moderate the impact of mortality salience on their attitudes toward aging. Some people tend to perceive aging-related changes as relatively fixed (i.e., essentialist belief), whereas others perceive them as relatively malleable (nonessentialist belief). Would a more malleable …
Dermatoglyphic Fluctuating Asymmetry In Schizotypy,
2025
Indiana State University
Dermatoglyphic Fluctuating Asymmetry In Schizotypy, Marcus R. Thomas
All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Schizotypy has been linked with many of the proposed endophenotypes of schizophrenia, but research is limited on the relationship between schizotypy and dermatoglyphic fluctuating asymmetry. The present study sought to examine relationships between schizotypy, dermatoglyphic fluctuating asymmetry, handedness, and season of birth. 146 undergraduate students were identified as schizotypes (n = 52) or controls (n = 94) based on the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale and had their finger and palm prints collected along with completing additional measures of schizotypy and handedness. Schizotypes did not exhibit a greater degree of dermatoglyphic fluctuating asymmetry, negative schizotypy was associated with increased absolute finger ridge …
The Effect Of Supervisor Multicultural Competence And Supervisor Cultural Humility On The Supervisory Working Alliance And Trainee Nondisclosure: A Structural Equation Model,
2025
Long Island University
The Effect Of Supervisor Multicultural Competence And Supervisor Cultural Humility On The Supervisory Working Alliance And Trainee Nondisclosure: A Structural Equation Model, Johnny Liang
Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-
Parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been associated with various psychological and behavioral outcomes in their offspring. Utilizing a sample of (N=330) adult offspring of trauma-exposed parents, this study used self-report and behavioral measures to examine the relationship between parental PTSD symptom severity and adult participant’s romantic attachment insecurity, pathological personality traits, and facial emotion recognition (FER) accuracy for subtle emotional expressions. Additionally, it explored the role of maladaptive parenting behaviors on these associations. Results indicated that higher parental PTSD was associated with higher levels of parental care and an affectionate constraint parenting style. Additionally, parental PTSD was related …
Caregiver Perceptions, Knowledge, And Likelihood To Intervene With Suicidal Youth,
2025
Indiana State University
Caregiver Perceptions, Knowledge, And Likelihood To Intervene With Suicidal Youth, Amber L. Willwerth
All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study utilized an online survey to target primary caregivers of a child aged 5-18. The survey highlighted factors regarding caregiver involvement in suicide prevention efforts, such as their knowledge, comfort and confidence intervening with a youth experiencing suicidality, and barriers to doing so. It was found that caregivers who had experienced suicide prevention training reported higher levels of comfort and confidence intervening with their own child and another child than those who had not, as well as lower levels of worry. Higher levels of education were also found to predict lower levels of worry, suggesting that further training and …
Mindfulness As A Protective Factor In Women’S Sexual Health,
2025
East Tennessee State University
Mindfulness As A Protective Factor In Women’S Sexual Health, Shana Byerley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Many women who experience physical health complaints also report sexual dysfunction across a variety of domains including decreased arousal, desire and satisfaction. Although there are well-established connections between disease-specific populations and sexual dysfunction, less research has focused on women who experience somatic symptoms more broadly. Similarly, mindfulness as a treatment intervention has been applied across many facets of sexual functioning, but mindfulness as a trait characteristic has been less explored in its connections with generalized somatic complaints. Further, the within-domain interactions between facets of mindfulness and domains of sexual dysfunction have not been previously explored. Using data from an online …
The Psychological Constructs Of International Graduate Students Transitioning To A University In America: A Thematic Analysis,
2025
University of San Francisco
The Psychological Constructs Of International Graduate Students Transitioning To A University In America: A Thematic Analysis, Umadevi Ramesh
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation employed a qualitative analysis methodology to explore the experiences of first-time international graduate students during their transition to university, focusing on initial adjustment, perceived support, perceived discrimination, and mental well-being. Previous studies about international student experience have mainly focused on undergraduate students. Furthermore, few have examined the initial transition period to university and factors involved in both positively and negatively impacting students’ adjustment process as well as overall psychological well-being. Nine participants qualified for inclusion in the present study and participated in semi-structured interviews, which the researcher analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. Participants expressed a strong need …
Assessment Of Mental Health Needs For Chronically Unhoused Individuals Living In A Bridge Housing Community,
2025
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
Assessment Of Mental Health Needs For Chronically Unhoused Individuals Living In A Bridge Housing Community, Isabel Furse Augur
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Higher rates of psychopathology and substance use are reported in individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the general population, especially in those who are chronically unhoused. Chronically homeless individuals are also less likely to access treatment for these problems because of barriers to care. Addressing housing needs is an important first step in engaging people who are homeless with the care they need. This project focused on assessing the mental health needs of a Housing First community in Northwest Arkansas, which has few barriers for entry but does not provide direct support for mental health. This project adopted a community-based participatory …
Investigating The Effects Of Drinking Environments On Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategy Use, Perceived Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Effectiveness Through Experimental Vignette Design,
2025
The University of Southern Mississippi
Investigating The Effects Of Drinking Environments On Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategy Use, Perceived Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Effectiveness Through Experimental Vignette Design, Skyler Hoover
Dissertations
Derived from a Social Cognitive Theory framework (Bandura, 1986), the aim of this study was to assess the impact of different drinking environments on college students’ expected use of alcohol protective behavioral strategies, perceived effectiveness of those strategies, and perceived self-efficacy to use them. To accomplish this, we sought out to create and employ experimental vignettes consisting of a bar/club or party drinking environment in a two-part study. Study one aimed to pilot test the vignettes prior to their use in study two, whose aim was to test our initial hypotheses. Both analytic samples were recruited from a nationwide participant …
Hormonal Modulation Of Sexual Approach And Avoidance Among Women With A History Of Sexual Trauma,
2025
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Hormonal Modulation Of Sexual Approach And Avoidance Among Women With A History Of Sexual Trauma, Anneliis Susan Sartin-Tarm
Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–
A history of sexual trauma places women at a high risk for sexual dysfunction and other health sequelae, yet the influence of ovarian hormones in this population is poorly understood. This dissertation tested the theory that the effects of ovarian hormones are mediated by cognitive approach-avoidance systems to shape sexual well-being, and that this process is moderated by sexual trauma history. This was investigated across three studies examining the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptive use, and menopause. Across each chapter, I present complementary evidence demonstrating that hormones interact with the interpretation of ambiguous internal and external cues with respect to sexual …
Using Interpersonal Motives To Identify Latent Profiles Of Borderline Personality Pathology: Implications For An Overcontrolled Style Of Bpd,
2025
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville
Using Interpersonal Motives To Identify Latent Profiles Of Borderline Personality Pathology: Implications For An Overcontrolled Style Of Bpd, Regina Schreiber
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is conceptualized as a disorder of undercontrol (i.e., behaviorally impulsive, emotionally expressive), with affective, interpersonal, and identity instability. BPD related impairment is high, yet diagnostic accuracy remains a problem for individuals who present with greater overcontrol (i.e., behavioral inhibition, expressive suppression), which occurs in some BPD subtypes. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to expand on prior research by identifying latent profiles based on interpersonal motives for agency and relatedness, desire for predictability, perceived dependency, and self-efficacy in a sample of people with elevated BPD features (n = 136). Individual differences in overcontrol, undercontrol, …
A Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention For Emotion Regulationand Aggression In Justice-Involved Adolescents: Preliminary Outcomes From A Non-Randomized Trial In Short-Term Juvenile Detention,
2025
University of Southern Mississippi
A Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention For Emotion Regulationand Aggression In Justice-Involved Adolescents: Preliminary Outcomes From A Non-Randomized Trial In Short-Term Juvenile Detention, Cassidy L. Tennity
Dissertations
Justice-involved youth are at risk for a variety of psychosocial difficulties, including anger, aggression, and emotion regulation challenges. Short-term juvenile detention settings offer a unique opportunity to provide psychological interventions to youth before they are returned to the community or sentenced to long-term placements. However, implementation barriers within these settings often hinder the delivery of evidence-based care. This study developed and tested a brief, two-session anger management intervention for adolescents detained in a short-term juvenile detention center in the Southeastern United States, drawing on evidence-based practices from prior work with justice-involved youth. The present study examined implementation outcomes (i.e., feasibility, …
